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Monday, October 4, 2010
PassworD must bE haRd : [Enough is Enough : Stop hackers.]
Protect Yourself From Computer Hackers
Computer Scientists Say Hackers Prey On Those Who Don't Protect Themselves
April 1, 2008 — Computer scientists observe that the people most at risk for the loss of private information and other computer problems are those who create easily guessed passwords and user names. They advise creating and regularly updating complicated passwords that contain upper- and lower-case letters as well as numbers. They also recommend running regular virus checks on the computer.
If you have a computer connected to the Internet, watch out! You'll be surprised to learn how often it's being attacked by computer hackers. Ivanhoe explains how to protect yourself and your PC.
It can strike at any time and can attack and destroy your computer. A virus hit Nicole Gentile's PC with a vengeance. "It was terrible," Gentile recalls. "It destroyed most of my files." And it also left her with a mess to clean up.
"It was a horrible feeling," she says. "I felt invaded and it caused me a lot of time and money to get everything fixed on my computer."
Nicole's ordeal is common. Computer scientists now reveal that computer hackers are using the internet to attack your computer every 40 seconds! "He or she will get on your computer and then see what is interesting on your computer." Michel Cukier, Ph.D., a computer scientist at the University of Maryland in College Park, told Ivanhoe.
Hackers can use disc space on your own computer and steal credit card numbers and personal info. Computer scientists also discovered hackers try common usernames and passwords to break into computers. "If you have a weak password, it will take a few minutes for that password to be found." Dr. Cukier explains.
Consumers should avoid easily guessed usernames like "test," "guest" and "info," and easy passwords like "1-2-3-4-5-6," "password" and "1-2-3-4." Instead, use longer, complicated usernames and passwords with random numbers and upper and lowercase letters.
"You try to make something as complex as possible." Dr. Cukier says. Changing usernames and passwords more often can help guard against future attacks. Also, anti-virus software may help keep computers hacker-safe.
"I bought a lot of virus protection software for my computer, so let's hope it works," Gentile says.
Hackers also break into large numbers of unsuspecting computers to control and manipulate the computers remotely for fraudulent purposes like identity theft, to disrupt networks and corrupt computer files.
HOW DO COMPUTER VIRUSES DAMAGE PROGRAMS? There are several different ways a computer can become infected. A virus is a small piece of software that attaches itself to an existing program. Every time that program is executed, the virus starts up, too, and can reproduce by attaching itself to even more programs.
When contained in an email, the virus usually replicates by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people listed in the victim's email address book. Unfortunately, viruses don't just replicate, they often cause damage. There is usually a trigger -- a command or keystroke -- that causes the virus to launch its "attack." This can be anything from leaving a silly message to erasing all of the user's data. For example, whenever the current minutes on an infected computer's clock equaled the day (for example, at 6:27 pm on the 27th of any given month), the Melissa virus would copy the following Bart Simpson quote into the current document: "Twenty-two points, plus triple-word-score, plus 50 points for using all my letters. Game's over. I'm outta here."
WHAT ARE WORMS? Worms are a different type of infection. A piece of worm software uses computer networks and security holes in specific software or operating systems to copy itself from machine to machine. Because Microsoft's Windows platform is so pervasive, for example, many hackers design their worms to exploit security holes in those products. In 2001, the worm Code Red spread rapidly by scanning the Internet for computers running Windows NT or Windows 2000. In contrast to a worm, a Trojan horse can't replicate itself at all: it is simply a computer program pretending to be something harmless -- a game, for example -- but instead does damage when the user runs it, often erasing the hard drive.
PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES:
1. Buy virus protection software and keep it up-to-date.
2. Avoid downloading programs from unknown sources; stick with commercial software purchased on CD-ROMs.
3. Make sure that the Macro Virus Protection feature is enabled in all Microsoft applications.
4. Never double-click on an email attachment containing an executable program. These will have extensions like .exe, .com, or .vbs.
5. Consider switching to a more secure operating system, like Linux.
src : http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0407-protect_yourself_from_computer_hackers.htm
by : http://losthacker-deadbj.blogspot.com/http://losthacker-deadbj.blogspot.com/
When contained in an email, the virus usually replicates by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people listed in the victim's email address book. Unfortunately, viruses don't just replicate, they often cause damage. There is usually a trigger -- a command or keystroke -- that causes the virus to launch its "attack." This can be anything from leaving a silly message to erasing all of the user's data. For example, whenever the current minutes on an infected computer's clock equaled the day (for example, at 6:27 pm on the 27th of any given month), the Melissa virus would copy the following Bart Simpson quote into the current document: "Twenty-two points, plus triple-word-score, plus 50 points for using all my letters. Game's over. I'm outta here."
WHAT ARE WORMS? Worms are a different type of infection. A piece of worm software uses computer networks and security holes in specific software or operating systems to copy itself from machine to machine. Because Microsoft's Windows platform is so pervasive, for example, many hackers design their worms to exploit security holes in those products. In 2001, the worm Code Red spread rapidly by scanning the Internet for computers running Windows NT or Windows 2000. In contrast to a worm, a Trojan horse can't replicate itself at all: it is simply a computer program pretending to be something harmless -- a game, for example -- but instead does damage when the user runs it, often erasing the hard drive.
PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES:
1. Buy virus protection software and keep it up-to-date.
2. Avoid downloading programs from unknown sources; stick with commercial software purchased on CD-ROMs.
3. Make sure that the Macro Virus Protection feature is enabled in all Microsoft applications.
4. Never double-click on an email attachment containing an executable program. These will have extensions like .exe, .com, or .vbs.
5. Consider switching to a more secure operating system, like Linux.
src : http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0407-protect_yourself_from_computer_hackers.htm
by : http://losthacker-deadbj.blogspot.com/http://losthacker-deadbj.blogspot.com/
How Safe Is Your Swipe? Thinking Like Hackers, Programmers Find Security Loopholes in 'Secure' Microchips
ScienceDaily (Sep. 27, 2010) — Used in a variety of products from credit cards to satellite televisions, secure chips are designed to keep encoded data safe. But hackers continue to develop methods to crack the chips' security codes and access the information within.
Thinking like hackers, Prof. Avishai Wool and his Ph.D. student Yossi Oren of Tel Aviv University's School of Electrical Engineering have developed an innovative way of extracting information from chip technology. By combining modern cryptology methods with constraint programming -- an area of computer science designed to solve a series of complex equations -- Prof. Wool and Oren were able to extract more information from secure chips. Their research, which could lead to important new advances in computer security, was recently presented at the 12th Workshop on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (CHES) in Santa Barbara, CA.
Prof. Wool explains that cryptologists like himself try to stay one step ahead of attackers by thinking the way they do. "Companies need to know how secure their chip is, and how it can be cracked," he explains. "They need to know what they're up against."
Blocking out the "noise"
According to the researchers, the Achilles-heel of contemporary secure chips can be found in the chip's power supply. When a chip is in use, says Prof. Wool, it employs a miniscule amount of power. But the amount of this power, and how it fluctuates, depends on the kind of information the chip contains. By measuring the power fluctuations with an oscilloscope, a standard piece of lab equipment, and analyzing the data using appropriate algorithms, a potential hacker could decipher the information that the chip contains.
But extracting information in this way, through what the researchers call a "side channel," can be complex. When you do a power trace, says Prof. Wool, there is a lot of "noise" -- inaccuracies that result from the different activities the chip is doing at the time. He and Oren have now identified a method for blocking out the "noise" that has proved to be more effective than previous methods.
When applied to information gathered from a power source, a computer program like the one Prof. Wool and Oren have created can sort through this "noise" to deliver a more accurate analysis of a chip's secret contents. Their program is based in "constraint programming" -- the same computer programming approach used for complex scheduling programs like those used in the travel industry.
Knowing your enemy
No chip can be 100% secure, Prof. Wool admits. But he also stresses that it's important to explore the boundaries of how secure information can be extracted from these chips. An attacker could have access to a variety of computer technologies and equipment -- so researchers need to know the type of resources required to break a code, explains Prof. Wool. He has provided information to U.S. passport authorities on how to make the chips in passports more secure.
"We need to think like the attackers," he says, "in order to raise the bar against them."
src. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100920123914.htm
by : http://losthacker-deadbj.blogspot.com/
Thinking like hackers, Prof. Avishai Wool and his Ph.D. student Yossi Oren of Tel Aviv University's School of Electrical Engineering have developed an innovative way of extracting information from chip technology. By combining modern cryptology methods with constraint programming -- an area of computer science designed to solve a series of complex equations -- Prof. Wool and Oren were able to extract more information from secure chips. Their research, which could lead to important new advances in computer security, was recently presented at the 12th Workshop on Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems (CHES) in Santa Barbara, CA.
Prof. Wool explains that cryptologists like himself try to stay one step ahead of attackers by thinking the way they do. "Companies need to know how secure their chip is, and how it can be cracked," he explains. "They need to know what they're up against."
Blocking out the "noise"
According to the researchers, the Achilles-heel of contemporary secure chips can be found in the chip's power supply. When a chip is in use, says Prof. Wool, it employs a miniscule amount of power. But the amount of this power, and how it fluctuates, depends on the kind of information the chip contains. By measuring the power fluctuations with an oscilloscope, a standard piece of lab equipment, and analyzing the data using appropriate algorithms, a potential hacker could decipher the information that the chip contains.
But extracting information in this way, through what the researchers call a "side channel," can be complex. When you do a power trace, says Prof. Wool, there is a lot of "noise" -- inaccuracies that result from the different activities the chip is doing at the time. He and Oren have now identified a method for blocking out the "noise" that has proved to be more effective than previous methods.
When applied to information gathered from a power source, a computer program like the one Prof. Wool and Oren have created can sort through this "noise" to deliver a more accurate analysis of a chip's secret contents. Their program is based in "constraint programming" -- the same computer programming approach used for complex scheduling programs like those used in the travel industry.
Knowing your enemy
No chip can be 100% secure, Prof. Wool admits. But he also stresses that it's important to explore the boundaries of how secure information can be extracted from these chips. An attacker could have access to a variety of computer technologies and equipment -- so researchers need to know the type of resources required to break a code, explains Prof. Wool. He has provided information to U.S. passport authorities on how to make the chips in passports more secure.
"We need to think like the attackers," he says, "in order to raise the bar against them."
src. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100920123914.htm
by : http://losthacker-deadbj.blogspot.com/
Launch of Germ Genie to Kill Keyboard Germs
ScienceDaily (Sep. 30, 2010) — Scientists at the University of Hertfordshire helped to prove the effectiveness of Germ Genie, a tool to prevent infections from keyboards, which will be launched next week.
Germ Genie, which was developed by Falcon Innovations and tested at the University of Hertfordshire's Biodet laboratory, will be introduced at the Total Workplace Management show on 6-7 October and the Hospital Infection Society Conference in Liverpool on 11-13 October.
The results of the University of Hertfordshire's tests on E.Coli, Staphylococcus Aureus and Bacillus Subtillis, reveal that Germ Genie kills ninety-nine percent of germs across most of the keyboard in just two minutes, and across the whole keyboard in ten minutes.
The Genie works by sensing finger movement on the computer keyboard, and after the user has finished it sanitises the keyboard with UV light. This treatment leaves the keyboard ready for the next user so they will not pick up microbes that would otherwise have posed a risk of passing on infections like Flu, MRSA and E.Coli. Unlike other solutions, it will sanitise the keyboard many times each day, at exactly the times it is needed -- after each user.
Richard Smith, Director of Biodet said: "We were given a Germ Genie and we did the testing to show that it worked. The science of UV light being anti-microbial is well established, but the Germ Genie had not been tested thoroughly to show that it worked on computer keyboards."
James Louttit, Managing Director of Falcon Innovations said: "We were very pleased to work with the University of Hertfordshire. They have been very responsive in answering the question "does Germ Genie work?" and bringing a scientific rigour to the testing. We expected the results to be good, but it is invaluable to us to be able to demonstrate a ninety-nine percent kill across the keyboard. The University of Hertfordshire has really lived up to their reputation as a business friendly institution, and as a start-up entrepreneur, I have been very pleasantly surprised at what can be achieved when academic institutions work with business."
For more information, see: http://www.falconinnovations.co.uk/contents/index/?p=m
src.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101003082311.htm
by : http://losthacker-deadbj.blogspot.com/
Germ Genie, which was developed by Falcon Innovations and tested at the University of Hertfordshire's Biodet laboratory, will be introduced at the Total Workplace Management show on 6-7 October and the Hospital Infection Society Conference in Liverpool on 11-13 October.
The results of the University of Hertfordshire's tests on E.Coli, Staphylococcus Aureus and Bacillus Subtillis, reveal that Germ Genie kills ninety-nine percent of germs across most of the keyboard in just two minutes, and across the whole keyboard in ten minutes.
The Genie works by sensing finger movement on the computer keyboard, and after the user has finished it sanitises the keyboard with UV light. This treatment leaves the keyboard ready for the next user so they will not pick up microbes that would otherwise have posed a risk of passing on infections like Flu, MRSA and E.Coli. Unlike other solutions, it will sanitise the keyboard many times each day, at exactly the times it is needed -- after each user.
Richard Smith, Director of Biodet said: "We were given a Germ Genie and we did the testing to show that it worked. The science of UV light being anti-microbial is well established, but the Germ Genie had not been tested thoroughly to show that it worked on computer keyboards."
James Louttit, Managing Director of Falcon Innovations said: "We were very pleased to work with the University of Hertfordshire. They have been very responsive in answering the question "does Germ Genie work?" and bringing a scientific rigour to the testing. We expected the results to be good, but it is invaluable to us to be able to demonstrate a ninety-nine percent kill across the keyboard. The University of Hertfordshire has really lived up to their reputation as a business friendly institution, and as a start-up entrepreneur, I have been very pleasantly surprised at what can be achieved when academic institutions work with business."
For more information, see: http://www.falconinnovations.co.uk/contents/index/?p=m
src.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101003082311.htm
by : http://losthacker-deadbj.blogspot.com/
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